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‘Good Hires’ Are Hard to Find in Canadian IT Departments

A company is only as good as its employees, and if they
don’t have the proper skills to do their job, business becomes much more
complicated. According to new research, a vast majority of Canadian corporate
hiring managers in the technology sector said they are having trouble making
“the right hire,” specifically finding employees who have the skillset required
for the position.

During an online survey by job search service Robert Half
Technology, 270 senior managers in Canada shared their thoughts on hiring for
their respective IT departments, 93% admitting to making a bad hire. The top
three reasons for bad hires, ranked most to least common, included unsuitable
corporate culture fit, inadequate skills and interpersonal issues. Hiring
managers said the hardest part of the job interview was evaluating candidates’
technical skills.

“Not only do they cost organizations time and money,
inadequate hires also impact overall productivity and morale, especially if the
rest of the team is picking up the slack,” Robert Half Technology District
Director Deborah Bottineau said in the study. “Strong candidates are easier to
identify when you have a clear understanding of your organization’s values and
needs.”

Hiring managers recommended recruiters be crystal clear
about the open position by providing potential hires with as much information
about the job as possible. In addition to conducting a technical assessment to
better understand the individual’s capabilities, they also suggested getting
other departments involved in the hiring process and even taking the employee
on a trial run before making the hire official.

NACM Economist Chris Kuehl, Ph.D., said many industries are
in a tough spot in regards to hiring because a lot of available workers aren’t
equipped with the necessary job skills.

“The bulk of hiring now has been some form of poaching,
where companies are recruiting from other companies,” Kuehl said. “There are
also more people electing to just quit their current job in search for
something new. The overall sense of the situation is stability.”

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